Practice is practice. Can she compete under pressure and hold her nerves on those jumps? How will the judges mark her flutz?

To me, her jumps now are smaller than when she last competed, which I didn't find impressive. I thought her jumps in this practice were as small as Caroline Zhang's. When she's stroking between elements, I thought her speed was better than it used to be (which wasn't great), but that Biellman position in her spin was slow as molasses and in my mind should receive -GOE. The spiral sequence with the split jump was the highlight of the program for me! The quality of her jumps still don't wow me . . . she lacks the power and the height of Yu-Na's, Joannie's, Mao's, and Miki's jumps. I have to say she impressed me in this practice with her overall conditioning though, as I had the bar set for her very low. She looks to be in great shape . . . good for her! To reiterate though, this is one practice and I hope her fans aren't setting expectations too high yet.

I've noticed Alexe Gilles keeps looking at her, both on the ice & at the boards.

Gorgeous headless spin!

I love the three turns she does......positive now she'll be doing that in the FS......like she did at the one show in Japan this past summer. The Moonlight Sonata Program over on www.youtube.com. That was my favorite part wherein she did three turns into a gorgeous 3S & came out of it with a Tano hand over head.

HA! I knew it, I was watching it on youtube, and I thought I saw Sasha a 3-3, but since Nicks had said "no" on that subject, I wasn doubting my eyesight. Are they planning for it? I think Sasha looked in great shape, and on the video she looked fast and with sharp moves. Wishing her the best here!

SASHA is BACK!!!!!!!!! She is truly the most AMAZING skater of recent skating history besides Michelle Kwan. Noone comes close to their charisma and presence on the ice. Her artistry and elegance is exceptional. Her jumps are very efficiently done. I am sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo happy to she her back on the ice again. It takes a lot of guts for her to come back to this event. Her jumps are not too big to become out of control and not too small to cause underrotation. How can she get to the perfect spiral position right after perfect russian split jump? It is easy to loose balance after the split jump like that with such a hight and position!!!! Her biellman spin is so centered and I do not see any traveling!!! She skates fast enogh (but not crazy fast that she can loose control). She is a kind of skater that pulls everyone's attention. (it is a little like Alissa!) There is something about her that is different from others!! If she skates well, I know she will be the same level as Yu-na or Mao!!!!

That's what I mean. She's probably afraid of stumbling and falling lower. But who knows. She won't beat Yuna anyway...

Sorry Silverlake22, I tuly believe that Sasha can beat Yuna. Actually, anyone can. I am not so fond of Yu-na's artistry, spins and spiral position at all. I believe it is mediocre level amongst world top skaters. I believe that Yu-na's 3-3 is the best in the world. But I feel that that is all she has. But this is my opinion and please do not get upset.
Anyway good luck to all the skaters!!

That's what I mean. She's probably afraid of stumbling and falling lower. But who knows. She won't beat Yuna anyway...

I think Silver Spun's point is that Sasha is not a quitter.

As for whether she can beat Kim Yuna, I prefer Sasha's skating but that's just my personal opinion. Is it realistic to think Sasha will score 76 in her SP? Not really. But there's still no point in talking about Sasha's Olympic medaling chances. First she has to make the team.

Even in her heyday she only once cracked 70. With all the tightening on scoring, it's practically laughable to think she'd get 76 now.

Yes, and that wasn't even 2006. It was 2003. But you never know ... besides, it's laughable to think ANY of the U.S. women could get 76. Anyway, you don't necessarily need to crack 70 to make the podium at the Olympics. Kim Yuna is the only one who really does it regularly. I do wish some of the U.S. ladies had at least gotten 65 plus this season ...

Even in her heyday she only once cracked 70. With all the tightening on scoring, it's practically laughable to think she'd get 76 now.

I know. And by writing like this, I know I will be hated by many Yu-na fan, but I trly DO NOT believe that Yu-na deserves 76 with that skating. If yu-na had her 3-3, with Sasha's artistry, spins and spirals, Alissa's spin, Akiko's edge quality, and Michelle's charisma,she definitely deserves 76, but I do not see anything special about her skating except her jumps. If Sasha was always skating past competitions with Yu-na, judges might not have given Yu-na this much of high score because judges can easily compare Sasha and Yu-na's skating. Because Sasha's presence is so stron that it may have tarnished Yu-na's skating a little bit.
Anyway this is Sasha's thread and I know it is useless to talk about Yu-na. I just feel Sasha is special skater that can make you cry watching. I do not think anyone else has that kinbd of ability. Thank you for respecting my personal opinion!!